The chalk was leftover from marking the rows in their vegetable garden—white compacted powder stones that Giuseppe had demonstrated how to use for plant spacing. Lila discovered the remaining parts in the tool shed that morning, lost in a corner where they had accumulated dust since spring planting.
Ever since she found those letters from her younger self, she had been considering marriage for weeks. In addition to writing about yellow curtains and unending love, the girl also wrote about weddings—not extravagant events attended by hundreds of people but rather straightforward rituals where two people made a daily vow to choose one another. A wedding where the commitment took precedence over the celebration.
In the quiet moments when she watched Regan tend their vines or saw him gaze a
